1. In 1968, Frankie Lymon was found dead at the age of 25 on the floor of his grandmother's bathroom from a heroin overdose.
24 Facts About Frankie Lymon
1. 2.
Frankie Lymon was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of the Teenagers.
3.
Frankie Lymon's life was dramatized in the 1998 film Why Do Fools Fall in Love.
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Franklin Joseph Frankie Lymon was born in Washington Heights, New York City on September 30,1942, to Jeanette and Howard Frankie Lymon.
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Frankie Lymon was 4 foot 10 as a kid, and he was 5 foot 5 as a adult.
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At age 12 in 1954, Frankie Lymon heard a local doo-wop group known as the Coupe De Villes at a school talent show.
7.
Frankie Lymon became friends with the lead singer Herman Santiago, and eventually became a member of the group, now calling itself both the Ermines and the Premiers.
8.
Frankie Lymon stepped up and told Goldner that he knew the part because he helped write the song.
9.
Frankie Lymon's actions caused a scandal, particularly among Southern TV station owners, and The Big Beat was canceled.
10.
Frankie Lymon's highest-charting solo hit was a cover of Bobby Day's "Little Bitty Pretty One", which peaked at No 58 on the Hot 100 pop chart in 1960 and which had been recorded in 1957.
11.
Frankie Lymon began a relationship with Elizabeth Mickey Waters, who became his first wife in January 1964 and gave birth to his only child, a baby girl named Francine who died two days after birth at Lenox Hill Hospital.
12.
However, Frankie Lymon had been known to say that their marriage was a publicity stunt, and Taylor could produce no legal documentation of their marriage.
13.
Frankie Lymon appeared at the Apollo as part of a revue, adding an extended tap dance number.
14.
Frankie Lymon recorded several live performances, but none rose on the charts.
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On June 21,1966, Frankie Lymon was arrested on a heroin charge and was drafted into the United States Army in lieu of a jail sentence.
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Dishonorably discharged from the Army, Frankie Lymon moved into his wife's home and continued to perform sporadically.
17.
Frankie Lymon, staying at his grandmother's apartment in Harlem, where he had grown up, celebrated his good fortune by taking heroin; Frankie Lymon had remained clean ever since entering the Army two years earlier.
18.
On February 27,1968, Frankie Lymon was found dead on the floor of his grandmother's bathroom from a heroin overdose with a syringe by his side.
19.
Apart from the posthumous releases of these songs, Frankie Lymon's troubles extended to others after his death.
20.
Waters was already married when she married Frankie Lymon; she had separated from her first husband, but their divorce was finalized in 1965, after she had married Frankie Lymon.
21.
Frankie Lymon was never paid his songwriting royalties during his lifetime; one result of Emira Eagle's legal victory was that Frankie Lymon's estate would finally begin receiving monetary compensation from his hit song's success.
22.
Frankie Lymon's high-voiced sound is said to be a direct predecessor of the girl group sound, and the list of performers who name him as an influence include Michael Jackson, Ronnie Spector, Diana Ross, the Chantels, the Temptations, George Clinton, Smokey Robinson, Len Barry, the Beach Boys and Billy Joel, among others.
23.
In 1973, Frankie Lymon became known to a slightly younger generation than before with the release of American Graffiti, which included "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" on its soundtrack.
24.
Frankie Lymon was mentioned in the 1992 Stephen King short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band".